Improvement in electro-magnetic telegraphs



2 Sheets--Sheet L S. F. DAY.

Telegraphic Register.

No. 42,842. Patented May 24, 1864;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. S. F. DAY.

Telegraphic Register. No. 42,842. Patented May 24,1864.

I; 1 I l illll mEw/aa 2 3 UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE SAMUEL F. DAY, OF BALLSTON SPA, NEW YORK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,842, dated May 24,1864.

. Improvement in Magnetic Telegraphs; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full,

clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,forming a part of this specification, in which' Figure 1 is a plan ortop View of an indent ing registering-machine. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section through the same. Fig. 3 is an end view, taken onthe left of Fig. 1.

This invention relates to a certain improvement in Morseselectromagnetic telegraph, which dispenses with the use of localbatteries and relays at the several stations on the line; and itconsists in the adaptation to and combination of an indenting-registerwith the main line.

A is the base or stand, to which the several parts of the machine areconnected.

B B are two electro-magnets, placed .in a Vertical position andsurrounded bya frame or box, 0.

Disalever,witl1a pin or arm, a, projecting downward from its under side.This lever is attached to an arbor, b, and is centered between twothumb-screws, c c, which terminate in a standard, E. An adjustablethumb-screw with a steel point, F, is attached to that portlon of theleverD which is represented as being bent downward in the drawings. Theopposite end of the lever terminates between a standard, G, providedwith suitable thumb-screws, d d, for adjusting said lever according tothe strength of battery on the main line.

It will be observed that the lever D is hung on the standard E at abouttwo-thirdsitslength, taken from the right-hand end of said lever. Aspiral spring, 6, is made to fasten on the arm or pin a of the lever D,the tension of which is regulated by a thumb-head, H, around the shaftof which a fine cord, f, is wound, said cord passing through the centerof the standard Gr and connecting with the spiral spring 6.

The object of the spiral spring 6 is to withdraw the armature I from theelectro-magnets B B when the circuit is broken.

This apparatus is provided with clock-work machinery for the purpose offeeding the paper continuously, similar to other telegraphmachines. Itconsists of two circular plates, J J, which form the sides inclosing theinterior mechanism. These plates J J are secured together by threebolts, 9 h t', and heads 9, h,

and 'i.

spur-wheel N. The weight L sets in motion the spur-wheel Nand pinion 7a.This communicates motion to the spur-wheel O and pinions l and m. Thepinion m is attached to a roller, P, which roller presses againstanother roller, Q. Both of these rollers are milled or slightly groovedon their surfaces, so as to prevent the paper from slipping whilepassing between them.

R is a guide, through which the paper y y I (shown in red lines) passes.This guide is provlded with an arrangement consisting of a ring,

a, and thumb-screw 0, for the purpose of regulating the width of thepaper to be used. This guide is adjusted byascrew, p, which terminatesin athumb-head S.

The axis of the roller Q rests in a slot, q, in each of the plates J J.In these slots are placed two metal pins, 1" 4*, which are kept close upagainst the axis of the said roller by the metal springs T T. The objectof this arrangement is to keep the paper pressed tight between therollers Q R.

The arrows in the drawings indicate the directions in which the severalspur-Wheels and pinions revolve.

A device for stopping the machinery at any desired moment is shown at U.

r is an upright projection on the metal strip U, which metal strip workson the screw 8. When it is desired to stop the machinery the handle ofthe strip U is pushed out in the direction indicated by the red linesuntil it (the rod r strikes against a revolving fan or metal strip, V,fastened to the shaft t. This causes the machinery to stop instantly.

The operation and construction of the key W are the same as in Morses,and therefore need no description.

It will be seen by the drawings that the armature I is represented asbeing down on the electro-magnets B B or, in other words, the circuit isclosed.

war are the two screw-cups to which the linewire is attached.

The operation is briefly as follows: The current passes along the wirefrom the screw-cup w to and around the coils of the electro-magnets B B;thencealong a wire to the insulated button o. Another wire connects withthe screw-cup ac and the metallic portion w of the key W. When the keyis-pressed down so as to strike the insulated button '0 the circuit isclosed and the armature I is attracted to the magnets B B, thus forcingthe steel point 1* into the paperyy and producing the required strokesor dots.

It is necessary to the success of the instrument, in a main-linecurrent, that the fulcrum of the lever should be as near the end whichcarries the point for indenting the paper as is possible withoutbringingit so close as to prevent sufficient range, so as to enable theelectro-magnets to exert a greater leverage.

By placing the fulcrum of the lever at the point above stated I doublethe effective power of the instrument, or nearly so. But thisimprovement alone is insufficient to accomplish the result soughtsuccessfully. In addition to,

and in combination with, this change, I employ a material change in themagnets used. Instead of making them of No. 22 wire and of a weight offrom four to eight ounces of wire, I

use No. 32 wire, and increase the weight of this portion of the magnetto about twenty ounces, or from that to two pounds, of wire. I alsoincrease the length of the cores to about three inches, and theirdiameter to three-eighths or one-half of an inch. By constructing myapparatus in this manner I am enabled to work an indentingregistering-instrument in a mainline circuit of any ordinary lengthwithout the intervention or aid of a local battery; and by this means Ientirely avoid the expense and trouble of the latter. This might perhapsbe done by the change in the construction of the magnet without changingthe lever from an equal beam; but I prefer to construct the lever in themanner described, as it very materially aids in the accomplishment ofthe result.

The combination, with a registering-instrument, of a magnet constructedas I have described enables the line-current to operate upon theinstrument with great intensity, and this intensity well supplies theplace of the volume derived from the local battery, by which it is nowcustomary to work such instruments.

The object of this improvement being to work an indentingregistering-instrument by the power of the main-line current, it isobvious that the nature and gist of the invention consists in giving tothe parts such a construction as to cause this current to act upon theinstrument with sufiicient intensity to properly indent the paper forordinary business purposes, on a line of ordinary or equivalentconstruction and length, in such a manner as to be available for theordinary purposes of telegraphing, and that the line of distinctionbetween this invention and the old formand manner of construction isfound in the adaptation of the instrument to the successfulaccomplishment of this purpose, of which it was before incapable.

I claim- Combining with an indenting telegraphic registering-instrumenta magnet constructed according to the proportions described in theforegoing specification, or substantially so, so as to accomplish theresult stated by means substantially the samethat is to say, so as togive sufficiency of intensity and power of action to produceuniformly-legible indentations in the paper, in an ordinaryline-current, without the aid of a local battery, as hereinabove setforth.

SAML. F. DAY.

Witnesses:

DAVID MAXWELL, ABM. B. PEARCE.

